Home Sick
by Repp Ohs Sarg
Summary: After hearing to a song from a movie, I was inspired to write this. Hope you like it!


_**Right, Me, owning Harry Potter.**_

_**If that happened, then, Harry would have confessed his love, when they were on the run.**_

_**No, gotta go back.**_

_**Ah, the whole acid friendship thing over the Half Blood Prince would have never happened.**_

_**No, further back.**_

_**Harry would have taken Hermione's advice more seriously, and never shouted at her.**_

_**Nah.**_

_**Harry's hostage would have been Hermione?**_

_**Nope.**_

_**Harry would be friends with Hermione even after she gave his Firebolt to McGonagall?**_

_**Further.**_

_**Harry would have found about the Basilisk sooner?**_

_**One more step back.**_

_**Harry would have been the only one to save Hermione – no Ron.**_

_**Yep, there we are. That's what I would have made Harry do – save Hermione alone.**_

_***Sighs*. Sadly, I don't own Harry Potter or any related character, except OC's. So, that's that.**_

* * *

Harry Potter, six months ago, in an epic battle, had managed to defeat Voldemort, and received an Order of Merlin for it.

'Why am I getting this award, when I'm not supposed to get it? What about honoring all of the dead people?', were Harry's thoughts.

He was sitting, drunk, on a chair in his temporary residence, Grimmauld Place.

Several whiskey bottles were strewn around the floor.

'What am I doing? What would Hermione think, seeing me like this?'

Another heartbreak. Hermione Jean Granger. She'd announced that she was going to stay in Australia, after she'd found her parents. But, the most saddening fact about this piece of news was that this was relayed only to Harry.

Ron had become a bit of an idiot. He was en cashing on his fame for the role he played in Voldemort's defeat, and, consequently, forgot about everyone else, apparently.

Once Hermione had got wind of what he was doing, she promptly cut all connections with Ron, and his family.

She only maintained contact with two people, who knew what she was going through.

Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom.

But, getting back on topic, Harry knew that he was being an idiot.

Deciding on his course of action, Harry moved very slowly to get a shower and make a repeat visit.

A repeat visit to the place he thought was home.

* * *

**Godric's Hollow**

Harry pushed open the gate to his house. But, once he saw the statue of a man, a woman who was holding a baby, he felt very out of place.

'This is where I was the first year of my life. But why do I have no feeling?'

Going out, and walking to the church, Harry pushed open the kissing gate and reached the cemetery.

The locations of his parents' graves were burned into his memory.

Once he reached the twin graves, Harry sat down on his knees beside them.

"I'm here.", he said to the graves.

"I've defeated Voldemort. I've freed the Wizarding World from reins of tyranny. Yet, this place doesn't even feel remotely like home to me. What should I do? What am I missing?", he asked them.

But, he was met only with silence. After all, what can a pair of graves do?

"Tell me", he said, tears starting to pour down his face, "Tell me something!", he shouted.

But nothing happened. No thunder fell, there was no rain, there wasn't even the slightest hint of a breeze.

Then, something struck Harry. He thought about finding where his home truly was. Steeling himself, he bade good bye to his parents' graves, took one last look at the graveyard, surveying it, and then he left.

* * *

In the following two years, Harry traveled all around the world, helping people, correcting mistakes, righting wrongs.

But, he never stayed in the same place for a long time. He moved soon enough so that he never held any attachment for one single place.

The only thing that kept him from going off the deep end, as it was, were the thoughts of all the children that he'd made happy, the lives he'd filled hope into, the people he saved in his tour of the world.

But still, he'd never found the one thing that he'd wanted to find.

The home that he sought.

But, before he could think more about it, he knew that he had one last place to visit.

He thought about all the countries and places he'd gone to – Europe, the Americas, Africa, The Middle East, Russia, India, China and finally, Japan. He helped people, of course, under various disguises. His only satisfaction being the sense of fulfillment that he got out of helping people.

He only had one country left.

Australia.

* * *

**Australia**

Once he got there, he immediately headed for the magical part of Australia.

Of course, he gave himself a good disguise, so that no one would recognize him.

He went to the pub there, and sat down next to a man, who, though young, looked very sad.

"Hello there, my fellow man, can I ask you a question?", asked Harry.

The sad man, putting his emotion aside for a bit, turned to face the stranger, and said, "Go ahead."

"Do you know of a woman called Hermione Jean Granger?", asked Harry.

The man looked at him strangely, and asked, "Are you maybe talking about H.?"

"Er, yeah, yeah I'm talking about her only."

"H. is known all over Australia!"

"Really? How so?"

"Her books. Her books on life are very excellent. Its like as if she's experienced all of it, and like as if she's writing from the bottom of her heart."

"So, what does she do now?"

"She works at a play school around here. I know a man whose kids go there. He said that not only his kids, but all the kids going there absolutely adore her.", said the man, and then he sighed.

"That was a rather long sigh.", said Harry.

"I'm thinking of my own daughter, and my wife, sir. But, I don't want to bore you with my problems.", said the man, returning to his drink.

"It's all right, sir. Just tell it to me. At least you'll feel better getting it off your chest.", said Harry.

"Well, my daughter is just about the right age for her schooling, but, I have no money to send her to school. Also, my wife's greatest wish is to open a candy store around here, and again, I have neither the money nor the job to help realize her wishes. I wish I did.", said the man, wistfully.

"Oh, yeah", exclaimed Harry, "Sorry, I gotta go. But I always have the habit of paying people for giving info. Since I don't have any cash on my hand, would you take this to the nearest Honeydukes shop, across the street over there?"

Saying this, Harry whipped out a blood quill, and a bit of high quality parchment, and wrote something on it. Due to heavy use, his hands had become immune to the cuts of the blood quill, and thus nothing showed up on his wrists.

"Here", he said, giving it to the man. "Take this there, I hope this will solve your problems at least a bit. Oh, just so you know, I'm Harry Potter." Saying this, Harry dropped his disguise so that only the man could see his true form. "Could you keep this a secret?"

Speechless, the man nodded dumbly. Not believing his luck, he went straight to Honeydukes after Harry left. Apparently, the owners, an aged couple, were about to put up ads looking for young blood. After an amiable interview, in which the old couple understood that the man had some really good, revolutionary ideas, the control of Honeydukes Australia was handed over to him. When he told everything to his wife and daughter, they were overjoyed, and they thanked God for sending his Angel to help them out. To them, Harry Potter would always be a family friend and benefactor. They would never forget him.

In the years to come by, Honeydukes Australia would become so prosperous, that they ventured into the catering business, and they were hugely successful, all over Australasia.

* * *

**Present time, The Local Play School**

Harry didn't have a hard time tracking down The Local Play School. Since there was only one play school in the vicinity of the magical part of Australia, it wasn't really difficult.

Once there, he went into a nearby, deserted alley, to change his disguise to a reporter's, and then headed to The Local Play School.

Apparently, the residents of the area were running out of names, and thus they came up with this original name, The Local Play School.

Harry went to the receptionist's desk, and asked, "Could I possibly be able to meet one H.?"

"Yes, and who might you be, sir?", asked the receptionist.

"I'm Harry Jenkins, a reporter from the Luna Lala, and before you ask", said Harry, understanding the confused look on her face, "Luna Lala is set to launch soon, so very few know about it. We'd like to start the paper, with an interview from the most popular author in Australia, H.."

"She is currently having a class that's going to end, would you like to wait for a few minutes?"

"Sure, I don't mind.", replied Harry.

A few minutes later, he saw an army of five year olds saying "Good Bye!" very cheerily to a black haired, blue eyed woman, who also, did the same as the kids, bidding them good bye.

As the parents collected their kids, they talked for a bit with the woman, and after they left, she went to the receptionist, who pointed to Harry.

"Yes, Mr. Harry Jenkins, I hear you are from the Luna Lala. When shall we have our interview?", she asked.

"So, you're H., the one whom all of Australia is raving about. Fine, shall we have our meeting tomorrow afternoon at the most popular cafe near the Great Barrier Reef?", asked Harry.

Since the Great Barrier Reef was very close to The Local Play School, she agreed.

Before he left, Harry asked one question. "Are you magical?"

"Yes, I am", whispered H., out of the earshot of the receptionist, "Why do you ask?"

"Its because Luna Lala is a magical newspaper.", replied Harry.

* * *

**The Great Barrier Reef**

The beaches near the Great Barrier Reef were very scenic, and H. arrived at the fixed time, to find that the Harry was already at one of the tables in the most popular cafe on the beaches of the place.

Their interview started off very pleasantly, and they covered many topics.

Harry was beginning to see the side of H., whom he'd knew to be Hermione by just seeing her mannerisms, he should have already seen. He was regretting the fact that he'd limited his relationship with her to a platonic level.

Somehow they managed to stray away from the cafe, and the interview, and when Harry asked if Hermione had any unrequited loves, she just scratched the surface by saying it in a shortened fashion.

"I did have two friends who were guys, but when one of them left for a short while, pining over his absence, I stupidly reduced the love I had for the other guy to a platonic level. I wish I had a chance to correct my mistake.", she said.

Harry was stunned. To find that he'd reached the same conclusion as Hermione. The only way he got her to talk this a much about herself was only because he swore he'd send a copy of his report to her so that she could alter it any way she wanted. And the first question after such an oath had yielded the lock to his feelings useless, opening them to the reality.

That he was in love with one Hermione Jean Granger.

"I have one last question", said Harry, "what is your idea of home?"

"Home", replied Hermione slowly. "I was born in Britain, but, I love this place, and the kids I'm teaching, so I guess, my answer in six words would be, 'Home is where the heart is'."

He'd had enough of this charade. He was ready to burst out with the truth. He wanted to confess his love to the whole world! But restraining himself, he said, "Please give me your hand.", once they reached an isolated part of the beach.

Suddenly, a wave of magic came out of Harry, which was so powerful, the it canceled Hermione's near permanent disguise, and his own.

Though Hermione didn't feel this at all. She was at once engulfed by a pair of arms. A warm and fuzzy feeling came over her. She'd felt like this only in the arms of one person, and that person was Harry James Potter.

Struggling out of the hug, she stood at arms length, and looked at him. "Harry Potter?", she whispered.

"In the flesh.", replied Harry.

"You heard me say, didn't you? That I love you?", asked Hermione.

"Yes, yes I did. Let me be frank like I've never been in years."

Taking a deep breath, he continued. "I love you, Hermione Jean Granger. I love you so much that I would marry you right here, right now, given the chance."

Hermione and Harry stared into each other's eyes. That was all that she needed. Launching herself upon Harry, she kissed him thoroughly.

"I guess this is your way of replying?", asked Harry.

"Less talky, more smoochy", said Hermione with an impish smile.

They kissed for a few more minutes, and when they broke apart for that diatomic molecule that is absolutely needed for survival, Hermione fell onto Harry's chest, and Harry encircled her protectively.

"You know what, Mione?", asked Harry.

"What?", she said, burrowing into Harry's grip.

"I was searching for my home. Then this brilliant, beautiful witch told me, 'Home is where the heart is'. I guess I've found my home.", said Harry.

"I guess, I've found mine too!", said Hermione, standing up, and helping Harry to his feet.

They held each other by their arms, and looked at the sunset. It was beautiful.

"Mione?"

"What?"

"I'm gonna open a school here in Australia.", said Harry.

"I'm with you all the way, and so are my parents.", said Hermione.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, I almost forgot about them. How are they doing?", asked Harry, sheepishly.

"Its alright, and they're doing perfectly well. After that memory charm was reversed, they were mad, but after I told about my decision to stay here, they became happy."

They turned to see each other, and then they turned to see the sunset again. "Home is where the heart is", murmured Harry again.

"Well, then....", trailed off Hermione.

Giving Harry a dazzling, beautiful smile, "Welcome home", she whispered.

They then kissed each other, and the sun set.

* * *

Later, they decided to leave.

Hermione then realized something.

"Harry, I can't believe I let you get away with confessing to me with such a corny pickup line!", exclaimed a teasing Hermione.

"Yeah, well, so what?", asked Harry, smiling.

"Well, I'm going to punish you!", said Hermione.

"Mione? You are going to hit me?"

"No, silly, nothing like that! I'm going to....."

"Going to what?"

"Make you come with me to a shopping trip with my mum!", said Hermione, laughing.

"No, no, nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!", shouted Harry, as if his worst nightmare had come true.

"No, anything but that, please!", said Harry.

"Not working, kiddo, change tactics.", said Hermione, smirking.

"OK, then.", said Harry, shrugging, and planting a whopper kiss on Hermione's lips.

Hermione was dazed after that kiss. She was almost robbed of any coherent thought.

"Harry......OK.....no trip.", she managed out dazedly.

Then, coming to her senses, she realized that Harry was poised to run.

"Harry!", she shouted, laughing and chasing him.

Once she'd caught Harry, he just hugged her, and she relaxed into Harry's arms.

She then kissed him, and said, "Harry, I truly mean it. Welcome home."

And then, a feeling of peace and fulfillment washed over Harry, as he realized that he was finally, home.


End file.
